November 22, 2009
What's Inside:
Health department hopes to take inspections online
City health inspector Rick Messa takes notes during a restaurant inspection last year in St. Joseph.
Health records for St. Joseph’s largest Chinese buffet speak dread: an allegation the owner tried to bribe an inspector, rats in the kitchen, cross-contaminated foods in the cooler, dirty utensils in the dining room, an entire buffet at an unsafe temperature.
The St. Joseph-Buchanan County Health Department file is fat. There have been about 40 surprise inspections in the last three years. But on Friday afternoon, its numerous health code violations didn’t seem to faze a steady stream of patrons walking into New Super China Buffet, 617 N. Belt Highway.
Kenneth and Monica Martinez walked out shortly before noon. They have eaten at the buffet at least three times each month since it opened five years ago. They had no idea about health violations.
“I get all the local channels, get the newspaper, and you would think that if there were that many violations, surely it would have been on the news at some point,” said Mr. Martinez. “There’s got to be a better way to letting the consumer know that there’s a problem.”
Health officials say there is: three tablet laptops that could post results onto the Web within seconds of daily surprise health inspections to St. Joseph’s nearly 300 food establishments. The notebooks cost about $3,000 apiece. They would replace the traditional pen-and-paper approach.
But with city sales tax revenue down in the past year, digitizing is a challenge. It may further be exacerbated by the announcement Tuesday that Buchanan County will soon end a $135,000 annual contract with the Health Department.
Digitizing health records would cater to an increasingly Web-savvy public and make inspectors better at their job by putting each restaurant’s history at their fingertips, said Rick Messa, a city health inspector who has pushed for the laptops for more than six years.
“The public could make better choices of where to eat and even the places to avoid,” Mr. Messa said.
The Kansas City Health Department has been online since 2007 and gets a steady stream of Web viewers that spikes when a media report comes out about severe health violations at an establishment, said Naser Jouhari, a field health supervisor.
Health officials also say their own inspection Web site would give a public incentive to improve for restaurants with a history of health violations. One example is La Mesa Mexican Restaurant, 3730 Mitchell Ave. Last year, it was in danger of closing when inspections revealed structural problems in its building that caused food safety concerns. But inspectors found no critical violations in April.
For New Super China Buffet, its new owners say they’ve made improvements in the last year that they are optimistic will continue. Mr. Martinez, the frequent patron, says he’s not certain about visiting it in the future.
“It won’t be as often now, I believe,” he said, turning to his wife, Monica. “We’ll have to go home and discuss this.”
Ahmad Safi can be reached
at ahmadsafi@npgco.com.
A story on restaurant inspections on Page A1 of Saturday’s News-Press needs clarification. The new owners of New Super China Buffet bought the restaurant in April 2008, which was after some of the violations in the story occurred.
It is the policy of the News-Press to correct all errors as quickly as possible. To request a correction, call the City Desk at 271-8548 or 271-8533.
This story has 15 comments. Click here to join in on the discussion.
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why can't the inspector post the results of the most recent violations at each restaurant until theyhave been remediated? put 'em on the door.
It has become a common practice for television stations to broadcast a "dirty" dinning list once each week with the results also posted on the station web site.
At least people are given a chance to avoid establishments with sub-standard ratings from this type of effort and those that don't care. oh well!
The real issue is the lack of actionable codes in closing such places down. Any food serving business having 4 or more "major" FDA violations on more than two consecutive inspections should be placed on a conditional licensing provision and closed down if on the third inspection compliance is not achieved.
It is easy to follow the rules while also keeping a clean and sanitary environment.
I have a couple of problems with the article and comments.
1. Where is the city buying their laptops at? Do they shop around at all? My husband bought his laptop for quite a bit less and its really a good one.
2. What does it take to close a food business when there are health problems? How many major violations are they allowed to have? Does the city follow the rules for closing? Maybe if they do, the business would realize they have to keep a very good health code to stay open.
Should the public be told of the health violations? Yes. Now if Mr. or Ms. Q Public want to follow it or not is their choice but at least give them the info to make a choice. I would like to know as I(and probably many others) have some health problems that could become worse if I was not informed.
The notebooks (not just plain laptops) would allow the inspectors to document all of the inspection results, make handwritten notes, and capture the signature of the restaurant manager on site. They could then print the inspection result and provide a copy to the manager showing what items need to be corrected. The data would be automatically captured in a database and made available on the web without another employee having to re-enter the information, off of hand-written inspection reports.
The City, as does any organization, spends a lot of money on technology. I was listening to an old radio episode of Dragnet and they mentioned an officer running to the nearest callbox. Radio communication systems are expensive, but I'm glad public safety personnel have them at their disposal. Since the City began automating their finance department (in the mid-70s), the number of employees in that department has dropped dramatically, even as new regulations have made reporting requirements much greater. But, in reading old newspaper accounts of a computer purchase in the mid-80s, there was opposition to "wasting" that much money on it.
I can tell you that the City considers a lot of technology purchases; some pass the cost/benefit test and are purchased; some do not and are passed over.
i think each and everyone of you have execelent
ideas.too bad you dont work for the health dept.
MichaelH... and work for the very evil government that you so often preach to stand up against? Oh, that's your plan: You want to take them down from the inside!!
I agree with all the above. The only possible exceptions I can think of that may cause them to "have to" buy the 3k pc's is some sort of government regulation/ ISO standard they may be required to follow. That, & maybe some proprietary software they're obligated to purchase/run. There's also the distinct possibility they're like bigger government agencys & have to follow an "overall" bid program, whereby a bidder gets all contracts for a year. They make up for the overall low bid on everything by sticking it to'm on little things, like this...
Nice, huh.
MichaelH--actually that isn't quite what I said.
I said the data would be automatically stored in a database--I didn't use the term immediate (the story did, but I'm not responsible for that. It's possible a private wireless network might be used; or the data might be stored on the local PC until it was within range of a wi-fi network, at which point it would be uploaded to the City's network. Typically that would be when the inspectors return to their office.
I don't know what the $3,000 cost consists of, but I can speculate. (I've seen a demo of the software.) The laptops are actually tablet PCs with the touchpad screens; handwritten notes as well as diagrams can be captured and either translated using OCR software or stored as graphics. There would also have to be a front-end application for the back-end database and, as you mentioned, a portable printer.
Hey here's a thought. Does the Health Dept not work FOR the people of this city? In the old days and I am only 49, if a restaurant kept getting violations, didn't they CLOSE IT DOWN? Why not put some BITE in the law and stop trying to gouge the public with expensive technology and taxes that will get passed on to us? Heres another thought. How about getting out that old pen and paper. Write down what is wrong. Drive back to the office, where they are going anyway. And then put it on this website? hahaha too cheaply done? OR like I said close them down, until they are in compliance. OR post a notice on their front door. I would vote for that. I bet if we did that, they would bring back the hair nets, tb tests and 3 vat bleach sink of the old days, turn up those steam tables and keep it clean because they cant make money if closed down. Wake up and get back to the common sense days. High tech aint always the best, and if they MUST have a lap top, there is a sale on mini 9's from Dell for 298.00 use those, tax hogs, that is all that comes of everything in this town. Jeez I hate this governmental system here.
Wow.. Big suprise, more "waste" of our tax payer dollars. Way to go Heatlh Dept!
My problem is not only with making sure the food is safe but has anyone looked at our inspector? He doesn't look the part of someone insisting on things being "clean" and "organized". The same ball cap in every picture I have ever seen and facial hair, clothes crumpled and he has an arrogance about him that is beyond comprehention. Last I checked he was a city employee that acts like he is the top State Official. You had better treat him as a top State Official though or you will wind up in the paper. Our economy is in a tail-spin and this man walks around bad mouthing restuarants in town and I wonder if they were bad or just didn't give him the attention he thrives on? Too bad this is the person to make or break our businesses at a time that we can not afford it.
teeter59 I totally agree with you.
The Health inspectors just want to feel like they are important with laptops which they do not need. Quit wasting taxpayers money. Do your job and shut these places down if they are that bad. Every time an inspector is there it should get a grade and posted right on the door until the next inspection. That way everyone can see it when walking in. Not everyone would use the website anyways. That would be a sure way to get people to see it and also to get these businesses on the right track and following code. A little common sense and less waste of tax dollars. Now I see why the county opted for a different route than to use them.